Exclusive | Myanmar eyes return of tourism, investment to buoy struggling economy: junta official
- Information Minister Maung Maung Ohn said Myanmar was planning to reopen its borders with Thailand and China starting in January
- Business confidence is also returning, according to the junta official – despite international monitors’ concerns that the economy is in tatters
Maung Maung Ohn, the junta’s information minister, said in an interview with This Week In Asia that authorities were planning to begin reopening land border crossings with Thailand and China by January.
After that, Myanmar plans to restart international commercial air travel – suspended since the coup – “by the end of the first quarter of 2022”, Maung Maung Ohn said.
The minister, a former army general, said Russia, China and private investors from India were among those eager for borders to reopen so that various deals could be sealed.
The Asian Development Bank forecasts that the country – one of Asia’s poorest – is likely to see its economy shrink by 18.4 per cent this year, in what would be one of the deepest contractions on record.
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Maung Maung Ohn, however, painted a different picture.
The junta official said business confidence was in fact returning in major cities, citing recent well-attended religious activities.
“In recent months we have received substantial foreign interest in investments and business opportunities. These parties are eager to travel to Myanmar to conclude transactions,” he said in the interview conducted via Zoom.
“The resumption of air travel will be an important catalyst for tourism, the return of foreign investments and international business activities.”
The minister also pointed to a supposed recovery in the Myanmar kyat in recent weeks as an indication of upbeat investor mood.
He sidestepped questions about contrasting forecasts by external monitors, and instead touted the effectiveness of the military administration’s Covid-19 economic recovery plan.
The recovery from a low of 2,500 kyat per $US1 in October to around 1,800 kyat today “underscores the economic recovery and success of efforts to counter rumours about the currency,” he said.
By January, Maung Maung Ohn said travel restrictions would be eased at Muse, which borders Ruili city in China’s Yunnan province, as well as at other three border towns.
To prepare for the return of international travel, government agencies are currently working on standardised testing and various other measures such as protocols for quarantine and vaccination status certification, he said.
Ruili, on China’s border with Myanmar, hit by dual hardships in pandemic
This Week In Asia was approached to interview Maung Maung Ohn by public relations representatives.
In the interview, Maung Maung Ohn reiterated the junta’s view that Asean had acted out of step with the Asean Charter, the 10-member bloc’s de-facto constitution.
Asean’s special summit with Xi is taking place to mark the 30th anniversary of China attaining “dialogue partner” status with the bloc.
The minister also fielded questions about Suu Kyi, the detained NLD leader, and Australian national Sean Turnell, one of her close advisers who is also behind bars and facing criminal charges.
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On Tuesday, as the interview was taking place, state media reported that Suu Kyi was indicted with fresh charges of electoral fraud in the 2020 polls that the NLD won by a landslide.
The 76-year-old faces a raft of other charges of corruption, sedition and illegally importing walkie talkies that could result in her spending the rest of her life in prison. Rights groups say the charges are without merit and meant to remove her from political life.
When asked about Suu Kyi’s well-being and whether the military authorities would consider releasing her to appease investors’ concerns, Maung Maung Ohn said the matter was an “internal problem being handled according to the law”.
“We are taking care of the case without partiality and necessary measures will be made according to the law,” he said.
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On Turnell, and whether he could be granted a pardon similar to US journalist Daniel Fenster – who was released on Monday on humanitarian grounds after receiving a 11-year jail sentence – the minister said amnesty would be granted depending on “the stability of the nation” and “friendly diplomatic relations”.
Maung Maung Ohn blamed “fake news” for distorting perceptions about the domestic situation in Myanmar in the eyes of the international community.
“In the long term, there needs to be understanding and cooperation so that the real situation will be covered... otherwise it will just be about finding fault, blaming and shaming,” he said.
The UN’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar said earlier in November that the military forces’ widespread and systematic attacks on civilians was tantamount to “crimes against humanity”.
Still, like Maung Maung Ohn, other military officials have sought to emphasise to the international community that normalcy was returning in the country in interviews, including with Bloomberg and Reuters last month.
